According to a recent study, children whose parents let them watch R-rated movies were more likely to start drinking than children who weren’t allowed to watch mature flicks.
Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School surveyed 2,400 children around the ages 10 to 12 on the amount of R-rated movies they were allowed to watch. The group was re-surveyed two years later, and the results appear to show a link between R-rated movies and underage drinking. About 3 percent of children who stated they had “never” seen an R-rated flick began drinking, while 19 percent of “occasional” R-rated movie-goers and 25 percent of “frequent” watchers began drinking.
Though one popular theory states that adolescents who watch R-rated films try to emulate the actors on the screen, Dr. James Sargent, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, claims that the influence of movies goes even further than that. “We think seeing the adult content actually changes their personality,” explains Sargent. Other research has suggested that children who watch R-rated movies are more likely to become thrill seekers and risk takers.
However, it can also be argued that parents who restrict access to R-rated media are also the type of parents more likely to be the keeping strict tabs on all of their child’s activities.
Source: Science Daily
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Published: Apr 26, 2010 10:55 pm